Become a Local Hero. Join the 2nd Annual National Gathering.
Majora Carter giving the keynote speech at the 2023 National Gathering. (Photo by ZED Images.)
Picture this: You just walked into a roomful of people (in a very cool city) who are all just as excited to talk about building safer streets, abolishing parking minimums, and expanding housing options as you are. You grab a seat between a city council member from Boise, Idaho, and a small business owner from Detroit, Michigan. The lights dim and photos of the amazing efforts of local advocates from across the country flash across the screen over the stage…
This isn’t a dream. It’s the 2024 Strong Towns National Gathering. And you won’t want to miss it. The event takes place May 14–15 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and tickets just went live.
This is the second year we’re hosting this event, because last year was such a positive experience for everyone who came. Here are just a few things attendees said about last year’s Gathering:
"This conference felt like a reunion with wonderful friends I had never met before. I wasn't aware that a conference could facilitate that kind of interaction, but it really speaks to the character of our people."
“This may be the first conference I've been to where I actually felt like everything was worth my time from beginning to end. It was short, so the value was packed in there very tightly.”
“It was so well structured that I didn’t even need to caffeinate myself to stay focused.”
You can head to our National Gathering website to view the full agenda (session details will be announced soon!) but let me give you a quick rundown here. At this event, you’re going to experience:
Barkha Patel, Director of Infrastructure for the City of Jersey City, NJ, will be the keynote speaker at the 2024 Gathering.
One and a half action-packed days of hands-on workshops, in-depth presentations, and engaging programming.
Sessions focused on all the issues you care about most: incremental housing, safe streets, transparent local government, ending highway expansion, and more.
An opportunity to connect with hundreds of advocates from all over the country (and the world) who share your vision of stronger towns.
Lots of chances to be part of the action: from pitching your local small-scale project to having a say in discussion topics.
An inspiring keynote featuring Barkha Patel (Director of Infrastructure for the City of Jersey City, New Jersey) to cap it all off.
This event is where bottom-up ideas and advocates from across North America meet to ignite another year of action. Don’t miss out on the action. Grab your ticket now.
Rachel Quednau serves as Program Director at Strong Towns. Trained in dialogue facilitation and mediation, she is devoted to building understanding across lines of difference. Previously, Rachel worked for several organizations fighting to end homelessness and promote safe, affordable housing at the federal and local levels. Rachel also served as Content Manager for Strong Towns from 2015-2018. A native Minnesotan and honorary Wisconsinite, Rachel received a Masters in Religion, Ethics, and Politics from Harvard Divinity School and a Certificate in Conflict Transformation from the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium, both in 2020. She currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband and young son. One of her favorite ways to get to know a new city is by going for a walk in it.